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Birth Story |
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Friday night seemed like things as usual. Mike and I watched a movie and then headed off to bed around 10pm. We typically watch TV before drifting off to sleep and once the TV show was over it was lights out. Inevitably a half hour later nature called and I headed to the bathroom, but this time it was different. I heard a little “pop” and felt an odd sensation. I was pretty excited because I figured this must have been my mucus plug. Sure enough it was!! I had a huge grin on my face when I went into the bedroom to wake Mike. He was fast asleep so before he could inquire further I felt a big gush of warm liquid running down my leg. I then quickly added that my water must have broken and that I was making a big mess. He told me to go stand in the bathroom. The two of us stood there as a big puddle of fluid gathered on the floor. It was straw colored which was a good sign! I became elated since I knew that when your water breaks you are in for the long haul!! We called the doctor’s call service to let them know we were headed to the hospital. I asked if I could take a shower first and the nurse said I could but to make it quick. Mike then hurried around the house gathering up the last few items we needed for our bags. Mike put down large trash bags and towels to use in his car as to not get baby fluid all over his nice seats. The ride into town (we live 35 miles away) was so exciting. I was so nervous because I would be having a baby that day, but also so very very excited that today was the day!! I had never felt such a wonderful feeling. We pulled up to the hospital around 12:20am and when I stood up out of the car I continued to leak an incredible amount of fluid. I just couldn’t believe that there was that much fluid in me! We waddled to the elevator and then to the labor and delivery floor. We got all checked in and the receptionist took us to a room. She told me the other nurses were delivering babies at the moment so she would be with us shortly. Mike went and grabbed our bags and I changed into the hospital gown. When the nurse finally got there she hooked me up to the monitors and I didn’t appear to be having any contractions but she told me I was committed since my water was broken. She had talked to my doctor and he told her to start me on pitocin to get the contractions going. She then came back and put the iv in my arm which was an experience because I hate needles!! She asked if I wanted any pain medication and everyone I talked to said to get the epidural so even though I hadn’t experienced a “real” contraction yet I was game. She told me that since my water had already broken some doctors let you get the epidural before you even have a contraction (wow lucky me!!). The lab people came and worked on getting blood out of my arm. They were not having any luck and pricked me in four places before they finally got what they needed. I was so focused on the needled pricks I didn’t even know I was having contraction every 2-3 minutes. Of course after the lab ladies left I began to feel the contractions and made good use of the breathing techniques. It got really old after a while and I was pretty tired of having to do this every 2-3 minutes knowing this probably wouldn’t end for at least another 8 hours. After this escapade my doctor came in and checked me. I was only dilated to 2 so he put in an internal monitor to watch the contractions. After that was all taken care of the epidural man came by and gave me a briefing on what to expect, risks and benefits of the epidural. He told me that I will feel a “shooting pain” running down my leg but warned me not to move. I worked really hard on sitting still the entire time until this “shooting pain” happened. It was painful (like hitting your funny bone). It caught me off guard even though he said it would happen. Once the catheter was in I was feeling some pain in my back. The epidural man worked to get that pain to go away but in the end the entire left quad in my leg was entirely numb. Oh well. The nurse then put in a catheter which was really wonderful! I didn’t feel it going in and even better I didn’t have to get up and use the restroom every 45 minutes like I usually do. By the time this whole mess was over it was around 3am Mike and I worked on getting some much needed rest. He had been up since 5:30am Friday morning because he worked so he was more than exhausted. I think sleeping in the hospital is impossible because of all the alarms going off when my heart rate jumped up to 180 at the start of each contraction, the blood pressure cuff squeezing my arm every five minutes and of course the nurses coming in to check on me. Needless to say I didn’t sleep much that day. Around 7am the nurse checked me once more and I was dilated to 5. Progress seemed slow but I wasn’t feeling any really painful contractions so the whole labor ordeal seemed somewhat painless and easy! I thought I was really getting off lucky and just wondered what pushing would be like. The nurse checked me again around 11am and I was dilated to 8. The pain of contractions was starting to hurt so I had to start using my breathing techniques once more. For me the contractions started to feel like having your hand in a vice and the start of each contraction felt like you were already pinned in there as much as you could be and then when the contraction peaked it was like someone took the handle and turned it as much as they possibly could. I think most people refer to this as back labor. The epidural man was brought in and gave me a “booster shot” which actually just made my left leg even number, but didn’t do much for the rest of my body. At about 12:30pm the nurse came in and saw I was in some serious pain from the contractions. She said she didn’t want to get the epidural man back because I would need to have some feeling for the pushing phase. She checked me once more and said I was close to a 9 and that she would be back in a half an hour to check me once more and see if I could start pushing. In the meantime she would call the doctor and let him know I was getting closer. Mike and I sat there breathing through each contraction. At 1pm the contractions were pretty intense and it felt like the epidural was doing nothing but numbing my leg. I wondered what these contractions would feel like without an epidural! The nurse said I still wasn’t at a 10 yet and there was a bit of “lip” left on the cervix. She had me turn a bit thinking that would make it go away. About 15 minutes later the contractions started to feel very strange and I experienced a lot of pressure. She then told me that I could try pushing. I gave it a go and it really helped with the pain. So with each contraction I would push. About an hour later I was still pushing! I was getting pretty exhausted and things were getting really painful. Mike worked hard to remind me to breathe properly. Around 2:45 things started getting exciting as the
doctor had shown up and nurses were flooding the room setting up the
bassinet. The doctor was debating on whether or not to use a vacuum to
help Porter out and I certainly didn't want that to happen. He noticed
that Porter was facing the wrong direction so he worked at getting him
turned right side up. This was a painful experience but once he was facing
the right direction pushing became much more productive and not as
painful. The doctor didn't have to use the vacuum after all, but I was
giving an episiotomy instead. At that point I didn't care what was going
on as long as it helped Porter get out and fast! He was born at 3:12pm.
Mike was overjoyed by the experience and I was well, exhausted, but
completely amazed at the whole thing. Porter's first little cry was music
to our ears.
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